C3 Architects LLP
CUSTOM BUILD: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LAND
OWNERS TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF LOCAL
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT FROM THE
MAJOR HOUSE BUILDERS.
In recent times, landowners have
had little choice but to sell their
land to the major house builders
in order to realise value. However,
Bob Tomlinson of custom build
developer Village Makers offers a
different angle.
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who simultaneously enter into a
construction contract with a third
party builder to deliver the house to
an agreed specification.
He says, “Landowners can play a
key role in improving the quality
of new-build housing in rural and
semi-rural areas in this country. “Typically the landowner will
engage the services of an enabling
developer who will design the
scheme and take it through the
planning process, as well as arrange
the required highways, drainage,
power and other infrastructure.
“Custom build provides an attractive
alternative to selling land outright
to a developer; there are benefits
to landowners and communities;
and there’s a positive effect on
the developed landscape. Custom
build involves the preparation
of land to provide serviced plots
which are sold to purchasers, “By taking on an element of the
development risk, landowners can
generate a higher land receipt by
retaining the profit which would
otherwise accrue to the developer.
Perhaps more significantly,
landowners can retain control and
influence over the quality of the
housing being created, as well as
the appearance and layout of the
finished scheme. In this way, the
landowner makes the decisions, and
can bring genuine benefits to the
community in which they have lived
and worked, often over the course
of generations. The risk to the
landowner will extend to financing
the infrastructure, but these costs
will have enhanced the value of
the land significantly and the sale
of the site at this stage will yield
better returns than an early sale to a
developer.
“In our experience, most
landowners have a strong sense of
social responsibility. This method
allows them to engage with the
local community and provide
attractive and well-planned housing,
rather than put their land in the